Congress, TDP, CPI form alliance to take on TRS in state; demand President rule

Congress, Telugu Desham Party (TDP) and Communist Party India (CPI) on Tuesday joined hands to form a grand alliance to take on the ruling Telangana Rashtriya Samiti (TRS) in the ensuing Telangana Assembly elections.

This will be the first time that K Chandrababu Naidu-led Telugu Desam Party will join hands with Congress in its 35 year history.

Congress, Telugu Desham Party (TDP) and Communist Party India (CPI) on Tuesday joined hands to form a grand alliance to take on the ruling Telangana Rashtriya Samiti (TRS) in the ensuing Telangana Assembly elections. The announcement was made soon after the leaders of these parties held the first round of talks before the upcoming elections. This will be the first time that K Chandrababu Naidu-led Telugu Desam Party will join hands with Congress in its 35 year history.

Speaking after the meet, Congress’ state unit chief Uttam Kumar Reddy said they would try to bring together all opposition parties to defeat Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS). He added that the alliance will also seek the support of all people’s organisations, employees, unemployed and women’s groups.

The decision was taken at a four-hour long meeting between Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Uttam Kumar Reddy, TDP’s Telangana unit president L Ramna and CPI’s state secretary Chada Venkat Reddy in a hotel at Banjara Hills.

“We have decided in principle to form into a grand alliance or Maha Kootami for the coming elections. We are working out the modalities for the same. We are also trying to rope in other like-minded parties like Telangana Jana Samithi and CPI (M) into the alliance,” the PCC president told HT after the discussions.

The early elections were necessitated in the state after Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao dissolved the Assembly. The polls are likely in November. The opposition parties have slammed TRS chief for the decision to dissolve the assembly.

Later, the leaders joined leaders of other opposition parties to meet Governor ESL Narasimhan and demanded President’s rule in the state. The parties said that free and fair elections were not possible with KCR running the government as caretaker chief minister in the state.